Unless readily available, spices we’ve grown accustomed to today were very expensive and hard to obtain during the Renaissance.  Salt was rarely used and the spices from the Silk Road  – cinnamon, clove, allspice, mace, and ginger, gradually migrated from the Silk Road, across the Arab nations, up the Mediterranean, and north throughout Europe.  France, one of the first cultures to embrace these new spices, would blend them with other, more familiar ingredients, and present the dishes to the royal family and visiting nobles.

Although this recipe was prepared originally for nobles, it can be recreated in one’s own kitchen.  This dish is ideal for an evening of wine, candlelight, and romance.  The brandy and apple sweetened duck meat, complements the baked apples and the carrots and can become even more decadent with toasted bread, truffle oil, and a dessert small enough to share.

Ingredients:

1 whole duck (4-5 lbs.)
3 tart apples (more apples may be used as well)
3 cups brandy
1.5 cups of apple cider
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp of fresh orange zest
1/8 tsp ground clove
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cardamom seed
pinch of mace
3 tbsp butter
2 cups of young carrots (baby carrots may be used instead)
salt and pepper to taste

Begin the recipe by rinsing the inside of the duck with cold water and pat dry with a clean towel.  Blend the brandy and apple cider together in a bowl.  Take one apples and remove the core, and slice it into quarters.  Place those quarters into the cavity of the duck.  Invert the duck, so that the opening of the body cavity is on top, and place into a separate, deep bowl or freezer bag.  Pour the brandy/cider mixture into the body cavity.  The liquid should overfill the duck and the remaining liquid should remain in the bowl, and set aside to chill for one hour.

Pre-heat over to 400 degrees.

Take a pot large enough to all the duck to lay flat.  Melt butter in the pot; add the carrots, and sauté lightly.  While sautéing, mix the clove, cinnamon, allspice, cardamom seed, orange zest, and mace together.  Once the carrots are covered in the butter, lay t

hem flat in the pot.   Drain the brandy/cider mixture from the duck and reserve. Place the duck on top of the carrots and score the skin of the duck so that the fat may run into the pot.  Pour the reserved brandy/cider mixture over the duck.

Sprinkle the spice mixture on top of the duck and cover.  Bake for 1 hour.  Remove half to two-thirds of the juices

from the pot to let simmer to a reduction in a separate pot.  Core the other two or more apples and add to the pot.  Uncover the duck and bake for an additional half an hour until juices of the duck run pink.  Remove the duck, baked apples, and carrots from the pan and let it sit for 10 minutes before carving the duck.  Sprinkle some salt and pepper to taste and serve with the sauce reduction as a garnish.    Serves 4

The recipe requires some time to set up, but it is easy to prepare.  While cooking, one can set the table and get ready for an evening of flirtatious conversation and romance.

From the July issue of Renaissance Magazine

Over the years, my historical research with cooking, recipes, and food has taken me to different cultures and tasting their cuisines.  Occasionally, I will encounter a new tidbit of information that will surprise me as well as culinary professional colleagues and amateur foodies alike.

The modern meatloaf usually consists of a combination of bread or cracker crumbs, eggs, and ketchup; some other ingredients may be added to each recipe making it unique for the geographic region or various family traditions.  Meatloaf has been with us for a very long time, but under different names.

The oldest recorded ground meat recipe can be found in Apicius, an ancient Roman cooking text.  This recipe consisted of finely chopped meat (or mince), combined with pepper, garum (a fermented fish sauce popular In Roman cooking), and pine nuts while its center contained white bread crumbs soaked in wine.  This mince was wrapped in a sheep’s stomach or upper intestines and then baked in a large oven.

Other versions of meatloaf can be traced to German, Belgium, and Holland 5th century recipes.  These central and northern Europeans regional forms of meatloaf usually consisted of minced or ground pork, hard boiled eggs, and bacon with bread soaked in milk or wine to help form the hand-shaped loaf and then baked.   These later forms influenced recipes from other cultures including the Middle Eastern kofta and Italian meatballs.  All meatloaf recipes came about for the same reason; by adding various fillers including bread, rice, or oatmeal to chopped, minced, or ground meat, anyone could stretch a small amount of meat to feed others.  Today, meatloaf has become a mainstay in the comfort food menus in many homes.  In this issue of Renaissance Magazine, I am sharing a meatloaf recipe from 14th century England.

Meatloaf
2 lbs. (4 cups) ground or minced beef
1 cup of oatmeal
1 / 3 cup of red wine
4 eggs
1 /4 tsp black pepper
1 / 4 tsp of ground cinnamon
1 / 8 tsp ground mace
1 / 8 tsp ground cloves

Combine ingredients in large bowl and shape into a loaf or place in deep casserole pan. Add a pinch of the mace and ground cloves and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.  Drain off fat and tip onto serving platter and slice up servings. Serves 4-6

Glazed Root Vegetables
4 cups of root vegetables, largely diced (carrots, rutabagas, turnips)
1/2 cup of brown sugar or honey
1/4 cup brandy
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp of ground clove
1 / 4 tsp ground ginger
Salt to taste

Cook vegetables in pot of water until tender.  Drain water.  In a separate saucepan, melt the butter over low heat and add the brown sugar or honey, cinnamon and cloves.  Continue to stir, slowly adding the brandy to the sauce mixture.  If honey is being used, the sauce will need to be reduced by one half.  Turn up the heat to medium and add the root vegetables. Continue to cook over medium until sauce thickens.  Serves 4.

Unlike the modern meatloaf recipes that have a saltier finish due to the use of ketchup, this recipe has a sweet/spicy finish due to the cloves, cinnamon, and mace.  The oatmeal provides an even binder when combined with the red wine and eggs.  I’ve also partnered this recipe with a side dish of Glazed Root Vegetables.  Both dishes complement each other rather well and may be served with red wine.

Oysters in Bruette (oysters in beer)

This particular dish has been a favorite of mine.  When I found it, it was in old French.  A friend of mine who specializes in European history, helped me translate the dish.

I was fortunate enough to test this in my kitchen and it is pretty good.  I usually serve this with some French bread to sop the sauce.

1 1/4 c oysters
3/4 c liquid from oysters
3/4 c ale  (I recommend a dark, heady ale)
2 slices bread, torn up small
1/8 t cinnamon
3 pinches of ground clove
3/16 t ginger
1/4 t sea salt
a few shakes of pepper
a pinch of saffron

Rinse and strain shelled oysters.   In a pot add the ale and the bread. Place the pot over medium heat and add the seasonings and begin to simmer.  Once the bread comes apart and begins to thicken the “broth,” add the oysters until done.

Serve

From the May 2010 Renaissance Magazine by Alice the Cook
Over the past year, I have presented readers with various period appropriate entree and side dish recipes ranging from stews, roasts, soups, and pasties. I have used most meats and through in some vegetarian options as well. These recipes encourage you, the reader, to create the recipes in your own home and to share them with family and friends. Fans have approached me and asked about desserts. They want to go to a dinner or a potluck and want to bring something unexpected and yet tasty.

My assistant, Nicholas, and I thought long and hard about what to make. Many of the desserts during the Renaissance required a lot more work as many of the ingredients are not readily available in modern markets or even culinary specialty shops. Items like almond milk (milk boiled with hand-ground almonds) and rosewater were used to either sweeten or enhance the flavors of the dish being made. Liqueurs were added as well, but we wanted to keep this recipe somewhat simple, yet different, and that won’t scare your friends too much. I’ve included a brief overview of the history of desserts along with a recipe that Nicholas and I have enjoyed for years.

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